The 31-year-old from Weyburn, Sask., making his first appearance in a major at this Open Championship, wasted the week’s best scoring conditions with a fat 43 on the front nine, and never recovered.

He started his round with back-to-back double bogeys, hit his second shot at the ninth hole out of bounds and staggered home with a final-round 79 and a 19-over-par 303 total.

He finished ahead of only one survivor of the 36 hole cut: 55-year-old Sandy Lyle.

Over on this side of the ocean, DeLaet was nothing like the player who had racked up statistical evidence of being one of the very best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour.

“It’ll be kind of nice to go back to playing our style of golf, taking nice divots and kind of feeling that flushness through the golf ball,” DeLaet admitted. “Everything here feels kind of clicky and hard. I just think back to a couple of shots I hit this week that ran into bunkers. I hit perfect golf shots and end up with nothing.

“But it was a lot of fun. If I could be playing in (the Open) every year for the next 20 years I think I’d be pretty happy.”

He put together a back-nine 36 after his horrendous start, which was his pattern for the week.

“Funny, because those are the most difficult holes on the golf course, those last six or so, and they’re about the only holes I played well,” DeLaet said. “I just kind of felt like I was behind on that front side all week and was just trying to salvage rounds.

“There’s really no excuse for shooting 43 or whatever I did on the front side. I just played poorly. I missed a couple of putts and made a couple of mental mistakes. I missed a six-inch putt on No. 2. I think I’m going to learn a lot from it and I enjoyed the experience. Now I just look forward to the RBC Canadian Open (at Glen Abbey this week.)”

He should be more comfortable for future majors now that he’s got one under his belt, starting with next month’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y.

“That will probably suit my style more, the kind of golf we always play,” he said. “I don’t know anything about the golf course. I’ve seen it on TV, but yeah, I’m excited. I feel like I kind of got my feet wet here this week and I’m looking forward to them from here on in.”

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